Community Cash Fund

We are delighted to announce the Community Cash Fund 2018-19 grant winners!

Discover Wellness - The project will aim to give professionals, and the seldom heard groups with whom they work, an opportunity to explore their experiences of local health and social care services & discover personal wellness so they can stay well and prevent ill health. They hope to do this through an evidence-based practice called The Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP); WRAP is a 2-Day programme that guides people through the process of discovering their own wellness resources, enabling them to effectively deal with life challenges. Over time individuals will have the confidence and skills to manage their own health and well-being which will in turn contribute to happier and healthier communities

One Community - One Community will be attending the Eastleigh Pride Event on 08 September to staff a Hate Crime stand where they will be running a health questionnaire for attendees on their mental well-being. The questionnaire will be asking for examples of poor and positive engagement between service users from the LGBT+ community and health professionals. This will provide people with an opportunity to explain what could have been done differently to be sensitive to their needs.

Wessex Cancer Trust - This project will be piloting a specialist nutrition course at Wessex Cancer Trust's Chandler’s Ford Cancer Support Centre. The course will offer bespoke nutritional information and practical advice. This will help 12 cancer patients cope with their physical symptoms, as well as improve their mental well-being and help towards their overall recovery. The course will be run by a qualified dietitian who is experienced in working with cancer patients, they will tailor the course to the needs of the particular group. Running for six weeks, the course will cover topics such as reversing weight loss healthily, chemotherapy foods, immune support and supporting energy.

Patient Participation Group (PPG) of Twyford Surgery - To celebrate the NHS's 70 years, Twyford PPG offered the NHS a ‘gift’ of extra exercise in the form of 1,000 miles. Completed over a year, getting those extra miles in will help people to be fitter, more aware of their normal exercise, out in the fresh air, socialise with others and help alleviate loneliness. The group will attend various functions like Sports Days and Fetes in the Parishes covered by PPGT. Many people can already record their steps/miles/km already with their own Fitbits, mobile phone apps or pedometers, however some do not and Healthwatch Hampshire are proud to supply pedometers to the cause to encourage participation.

Enham Trust - Cooking with Healthwatch ‘What am I going to make for dinner?’ will be a training programme to save disabled people stress, time & money from cooking throughout the week, while also keeping them on track with a healthy lifestyle. Consistency is key when making and achieving health and wellness goals; what’s more consistent than having your meal prepared and planned for you a week in advance? The programme will be a fun way to diversify food and meal choices throughout the day and week, save money and reduce waste - very little food is wasted and less packaging is involved. Many disabled people lack the skills, experience and confidence to prepare food effectively. People who live in supported living and their personal assistants (carers) will be invited to engage. share and learn new cooking skills together to improve service design and quality of care.

Unit 12 Community Interest Company - Unit 12 is partnering with Autism Hampshire to start a community café. The café will be at the heart of community building and will offer a social hub for people on the autistic spectrum, as well as a wide range of people using the building. Loneliness and social isolation are considered as harmful to our bodies as smoking and obesity as well as having serious consequences to our mental health; there is a misconception that people on the autism spectrum are antisocial or can’t cope in social situations and are therefore isolated socially. This is often untrue and people on the autism spectrum need a place where they can feel safe to socialise. Creating this community café at Unit 12 will help reduce social isolation and will offer a safe space for people to interact.

As you can imagine, we are incredibly excited to get started working with these wonderful projects and see what the year ahead holds for us all!